In recent years, greater emphasis has been placed on national homeland security, including the detection of various threats to human populations. In particular, detecting or sensing the presence of undesirable hazardous materials in the environment, such as biological or chemical agents and sources of radioactivity, has become a priority. Such hazardous materials may be found in shipping containers, buildings, airports, or other locations and may be directed at inflicting civilian, as well as military, casualties. As such, there is a need to provide small, affordable devices that are capable of accurately detecting a wide range of hazardous materials.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a sensor capable of sensing biological, chemical, and/or radioactive hazardous materials. In addition, it is desirable to provide a sensor for detecting the presence of multiple and different threats while minimizing the package size and manufacturing costs of the sensor. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.